Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Stock: Insider Gary Smith Sells 2,952 Shares

Key Points

• CEO Gary Smith sold 2,952 Ciena shares for about $880,000 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, leaving him with 222,503 shares.
• Ciena shares traded at $271.47 in the article, well below their 50-day and 200-day moving averages of $359.64 and $402.45, respectively.
• The company beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, with revenue up 37% year over year; analysts’ average rating was Moderate Buy, with an average price target of $485.93.

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) CEO Gary Smith sold 2,952 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.16, for a total transaction of $880,168.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 222,503 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $66,341,494.48. This represents a 1.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Ciena Price Performance

NYSE CIEN traded down $28.61 on Wednesday, hitting $271.47. The stock had a trading volume of 3,873,375 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,910,426. Ciena Corporation has a 52-week low of $168.22 and a 52-week high of $637.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 3.17 and a current ratio of 3.80. The company has a market capitalization of $38.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.33. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $359.64 and a 200-day moving average of $402.45.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 3rd. The communications equipment provider reported $2.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. Ciena had a net margin of 10.87% and a return on equity of 25.33%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 37.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.35 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 6.00 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ciena

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Markowski Investments purchased a new stake in Ciena in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Ciena by 57.8% during the second quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 71 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC increased its position in shares of Ciena by 2,100.0% during the 1st quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 88 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC raised its position in Ciena by 635.7% in the first quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 103 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Finally, Western Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Ciena in the 1st quarter worth $49,000. 91.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $600.00 price objective (up from $530.00) on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. CL King set a $347.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, September 4th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, October 25th. Zacks Research raised shares of Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, September 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $485.93.

Ciena Company Profile

Ciena Corporation NYSE: CIEN is a networking technology company that provides hardware, software, and services for communications networks. Its solutions help telecommunications carriers, cloud providers, enterprises, government organizations, and research institutions build, manage, and automate high-capacity networks.

The company's portfolio includes optical networking systems, routing and switching platforms, network automation software, and network management tools. Ciena also offers consulting, implementation, maintenance, and professional services designed to support network planning, deployment, optimization, and ongoing operations.

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